Nationality Slovenian / Greek Number 8, 12 Weight 116 kg Listed height 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) Name Radoslav Nesterovic Career start 1993 | Listed weight 255 lb (116 kg) Role Basketball player Position Center Pro career 1992–2011 Height 2.13 m | |
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Born May 30, 1976 (age 47)
Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia ( 1976-05-30 ) NBA draft 1998 / Round: 1 / Pick: 17th overall Similar People Saso Filipovski, Gregg Popovich, Dwane Casey, Flip Saunders, Frank Vogel | ||
NBA Live 06 Radoslav Nesterovic 3 Point Shot
Radoslav "Rašo" Nesterović (Serbian Cyrillic: Радослав "Рашо" Нестеровић, Slovene: Radoslav "Rašo" Nesterovič), usually referred to in English as Rasho Nesterovic (born May 30, 1976), is a retired Slovenian professional basketball player. He holds citizenship in both Slovenia and Greece. In the NBA he played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, San Antonio Spurs, Indiana Pacers, and Toronto Raptors. Nesterović retired in 2011.
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Early life and career in Europe
Nesterović was born in Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia to father Čedo, a Bosnian Serb employee of the Slovenian Railways, and a mother Branka, a midwife in the Ljubljana University Medical Centre. He started playing basketball with the KD Slovan youth team. Later, he played with the junior club of KK Partizan and made his debut during the 1992–93 season.
PAOK
During the Yugoslav wars, he moved to PAOK of the Greek League. While playing there, he obtained a second citizenship (Greek) to avoid EU restrictions. To obtain Greek citizenship he had to administratively change his name in the eyes of Greek law. While in Greece and other EU countries, he thus competed as a domestic player under the name Radoslav Makris.
Olimpija Ljubljana
Ahead of the 1995–96 season, he returned to his hometown to play for Union Olimpija. Competing in the Slovenian domestic league, his averages were 30 minutes, 17 points and 14 rebounds per game. The summer of 1996 off season brought another significant feat for Nesterović; while playing for Slovenia's youth national team he was named the MVP at the 1996 FIBA Europe Under-20 Championship. The next season, 1996–97, he was part of that legendary Olimpija team that reached the Euroleague Final Four in Rome, thanks in no small part to Nesterović's efforts. In that season, he played an average of 24 minutes, scoring 14 points, and grabbing 8 rebounds per game in the Euroleague.
Virtus Bologna
The exposure on the biggest European stage led to a big time move for Nesterović to the Italian League power Virtus (Kinder) Bologna during the summer of 1997. In the first season with his new club, he scored an average of 9 points and grabbed an average of 12 rebounds per game in the Italian domestic league, but he was much more successful in the Euroleague, where he scored 11.2 points and grabbed 8.4 rebounds per game. He helped Virtus win the Euroleague title, playing alongside legendary players such as Predrag Danilović, Zoran Savić, and Antoine Rigaudeau. In the Euroleague final, Nesterović scored 16 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Nesterović was a first-round draft pick (17th overall) of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 1998 NBA Draft. He joined the Timberwolves just before the end of the 1998–99 season and played there through the 2002–03 season.
Nesterović stayed in Minnesota for four full seasons because he played only the last two regular-season games, plus all of his team's games in the playoffs, in his first season. His best season with the Timberwolves was 2002–03, when he averaged 11.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, earning himself a 6-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs in 2004. Although the Timberwolves were offering him a contract worth $12 million more, Nesterović opted for the move to Texas for a shot at the NBA title.
San Antonio Spurs
In his first season with San Antonio, he scored 8.7 points per game and grabbed 7.7 rebounds per game. In his second season with the Spurs, 2004–05, he suffered an ankle injury, and was limited to 70 games. Nevertheless, he remained the starting center for the majority of the season, and, along with his colleague from the Slovenian national basketball team, Beno Udrih, he ultimately won an NBA title with the Spurs that year.
Toronto Raptors
On June 21, 2006, Nesterović was traded to the Toronto Raptors along with cash in exchange for Matt Bonner, Eric Williams and a second round pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. In his first season with the Raptors, he averaged 6.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks per game.
On April 2, 2008, at 7:34 pm EST, Nesterović hit his first three-point shot ever in the regular season, with a pump fake, for a buzzer beater against the Atlanta Hawks, in Atlanta.
While playing for the Raptors, he was nicknamed Nestea as the fans found it "refreshing to have a true center."
Indiana Pacers
On July 9, 2008, Nesterović was traded along with the Raptors' T.J. Ford, Maceo Baston and the 17th pick in the draft (Roy Hibbert) to the Indiana Pacers, in exchange for Jermaine O'Neal and the 41st pick in the draft (Nathan Jawai).
Return to the Toronto Raptors
On July 30, 2009, Nesterović officially was signed by the Raptors, reportedly with the biannual exception of $1.9 million for one season.
Olympiacos
For the 2010–11 season Nesterović returned to Europe when he signed a two-year contract with the Greek League powerhouse Olympiacos. He was released by Olympiacos in July 2011.
Slovenian national team
Nesterović was the captain of the senior men's Slovenian national basketball team until his retirement from the national team in 2008. He helped his national team finish in 6th place at the EuroBasket 2005 in Belgrade, and to thus secure a place at the 2006 FIBA World Championship. At the EuroBasket 2005, he played an average of 21 minutes, where he scored an average of 16 points and grabbed an average of 7 rebounds per game.
Post-retirement era
Since 2014 Rasho Nesterovic holds a position as a Secretary-General of Basketball Federation of Slovenia. In 2015 he was elected a member of FIBA commission of players.
Personal
Nesterović has a sister and four children.